Weighed my mise en place for a week and the numbers shocked me

So I got a cheap gram scale last Tuesday and started weighing every prep batch I do, garlic, shallots, herbs, everything. Turns out I was using roughly 30% more shallots than the recipe called for because I eyeballed it, and that adds up fast when you're doing 40 covers a night. Same with salt, I was way over on some dishes and under on others depending on my mood. I'm not saying I'll weigh everything forever, but I caught some real sloppy habits in just 5 days. Anyone else ever tracked their prep this way or am I just being extra?

2 comments

2 Comments

torres.sage17d ago

Man, I did the exact same thing last year and it was embarrassing how off I was. I thought I had my shallot game dialed in, but turns out I was using about a quarter more than needed every single batch. The salt thing really got me too, I was way heavier on the seasoning on busy nights versus slow ones, which makes zero sense when you think about it. It's not like I weigh everything now, but I definitely check the scale on anything expensive or when I'm doing a big batch.

piper91217d ago

Weighing stuff for a week will ruin you for eyeballing anything pricey ever again, that's for sure. Once you see the hard numbers on shallots or herbs, you can't unsee it, so I just started doing quick scale checks on anything that costs more than a few bucks a pound or goes into a big batch. It takes ten extra seconds and saves me from that sinking feeling when I realize I just blew through an extra quart of something for no reason.